Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I respectfully say to the member who asked the question that passivity in the face of the ISIL death cult would be the thing that is most likely to increase the risk of terrorist attacks here in Australia. I absolutely accept that the member who asked the question, like every other member in this House, wants to ensure that our country is safe. We all want to ensure that our country is safe. The truth, though, is that, today, national security and international security are indivisible. We cannot preserve national security without doing what we reasonably and prudently and proportionally can to protect and preserve international security. That is why we are involved, along with some 60 countries, in the coalition against the ISIL death cult in the Middle East.

Finally, may I say to the member for Melbourne, we have long been a target. We were a target long before the Howard government got involved in Iraq in 2003, as the Bali bombing demonstrated. The United States was a target long before the 2003 Iraq war, as the September 11 outrages demonstrated. The regrettable truth—which I am sure, in his heart, the member for Melbourne well knows—is that those who would do us harm hate us, they hate our way of life, they hate everyone—they hate everyone's way of life that does not conform to their own narrow fanaticism. They have declared war on the world. They particularly dislike our freedom, our tolerance, the welcome we give to outsiders and the protection we give to minorities. That is what they dislike about us. That is, in fact, the glory of our culture, our country and our civilisation, and long may it be so.

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